ASU THEATER: Back with a blast

ASU revives auditorium with 'Tommy'

Mike Burnett discusses the inspiration behind the production of The Who's Tommy at Angelo State University.

Kimberley Meyer/Standard-Times Lance Turner, playing the abusive Uncle Ernie, shows off his vocal talent while rehearsing a scene with Wyatt Waters, who plays the 10-year-old Tommy in the Angelo State University Theater Department production of the rock opera "The Who's Tommy."The cast members bring classic rock music and the story of a pinball legend to ASU's newly renovated stage.

Kimberley Meyer/Standard-Times Angelo State University's theater director Mike Burnett calls the cast to the stage for rehearsal Tuesday at the Angelo State University auditorium. Burnett's passion for classic rock-n-roll inspired him to produce The Who's Tommy at ASU.

Kimberley Meyer/Standard-Times Cast members of The Who's Tommy rehearse on stage at the Angelo State University auditorium. More than two dozen cast bring classic rock-n-roll music and the story of a pinball legend to the newly renovated stage of the ASU auditorium in the administration building. The musical, produced by Mike Burnett, director, is scheduled to open tonight at 8 p.m.

SAN ANGELO, Texas - What: "The Who's Tommy"

When: October 12-13 and 19-20 at 8 p.m., October 21 at 2 p.m.

Where: Angelo State University auditorium, 2601 W. Ave. N

Cost: $8 for adults, $4 for non-ASU students, $3 for ASU students.

For information: 325-942-2000

In an example of art imitating life, the Angelo State University auditorium will open its doors tonight for the first time in three years.

The cast and crew, made up of mostly students from ASU, will perform "The Who's Tommy," a rock opera by Pete Townshend, which uses music by The Who to tell a story of a young boy's journey from tragedy to triumph.

"This show combines the best of theater and classic rock," said Mike Burnett, assistant director of theater at ASU and director of "Tommy."

Burnett said the play was chosen to get the student body on campus excited about theater.

"The building's been closed for three years," he said, "We wanted to open with a blowout production. That made the choice of this play even more logical."

The auditorium was forced to close three years ago when a safety concern was found with the obsolete stage rigging. Renovations replaced the entire

rigging system, including all lines/ropes, pulleys, hoists, counterweights, catwalks, curtains and other components necessary for a fully functional proscenium stage, according to ASU's website.

The project cost nearly $500,000, which was funded through an allocation of the university's Higher Education Assistance Funds.

Now that the work is complete the auditorium can resume its normal role in university life as a venue for musical theater, drama productions, recitals, award ceremonies and other activities.

Like the lead character in the play, the auditorium survived its life-changing ordeal and is once again ready to thrive.

Cast members are excited about performing in a rock opera — a rare genre for theater.

"Tommy" was released as a two-record album in 1969 and was the first composition of its kind, billed as a rock opera, a free-form story told through rock music about a boy who loses his senses — becomes deaf, dumb and blind — in a childhood trauma.

"It's a different experience," said Jamie Westfall, a senior theater major at ASU, who will portray Mrs. Walker, Tommy's mother, in the play.

"There's not really dialogue, and more hard work than everything we've done before," she said.

Junior theater student Bernardino "Chito" Hernandez, who portrays the oldest iteration of Tommy, is excited to perform for the first time in what is, for him, a new theater.

"We've been working in the mod theater, which has different staging," he said. In the newly renovated, larger theater, "Since the audience is further away, you need bigger movements," he said. "You have to be able to reach the last person in the back row."

One of the few non-ASU students performing in Tommy, Trey Smith, who is a mathematics professor at the university, is no stranger to theater in San Angelo. Although he recently directed Be Theatre's "Title of Show," Smith's last onstage performance was in Angelo Civic Theatre's 2011 performance of "Red, White, and Tuna."

"I hadn't been in a production in a while," he said, "and I've always loved the music to 'Tommy.' "

In addition, Smith looks forward to performing on the same stage as his son, who plays guitar in the rock band for the production.

Lee Smith, a freshman voice major at ASU, plays guitar in a local Christian metal core band named "Part the Seas," but this is his first time playing guitar for a theater production.

"It's different," he said. "In the band, we write music and learn it as a band. In 'Tommy,' we learned the music and practiced at home. The actors and singers are depending on us to play correctly. It's good for me — I could always be improving in that."

The cast of 28 and crew of 20 are ready for opening night and two weekends of the production, which is part of a theater festival operated through the Kennedy Center.

"It's like a one-act play festival, but on a national scale," Burnett said.

About 150 schools in Texas will compete to advance to a regional festival in Shreveport, La., the last week of February.